Indians stop Kays to clinch playoff berth

A gutsy performance from Andrew Mays and the running of Nick Wotton were the ingredients to a 41-14 victory for Pontiac Friday night.

The importance of the win over Kankakee at Williamson Field was the securing of a playoff berth for the Indians. At 6-3, the Tribe is guaranteed a spot in the postseason for the first time since 2010.

“Everybody came together,” senior Andrew Mays said. “We were just there to win. It’s a great win.”

Mays was almost not available for this game. The 6-foot-3, 245-pound lineman was involved in an automobile accident earlier Friday and there was question whether he would be able to suit up.

He did. And, man, did he play football.

“To have him show up, and it looked like he was dressed for Halloween, I told him,” PTHS head coach Buck Casson said of Mays. “He had scrapes and bruises and everything. I said he looked like a ghoul or something.

“To battle the way he did to put us in a position to succeed. Everybody was just lifted.”

Mays, a co-captain, collected eight tackles, including five for loss. He had two sacks and recovered a fumble. It was his play that helped set the defensive tone, especially in the second half.

“He came out here like a soldier and stepped up,” fellow senior co-captain Ed Lewis said of Mays. “He was a leader, he was phenomenal.”

“It’s a drive to go out and help my team,” Mays said of his effort. “It was Senior Night, the last chance. It’s the greatest feeling I could have.”

Behind Mays, Pontiac’s defense held the Kays to a mere four yards rushing in the second half. Kankakee had 51 yards through the air.

This was after the Indians gave up 140 yards in the first half.

Pontiac was limited a bit on offense in the first half, in terms of yards from scrimmage. Even though PTHS had 159 total yards, Nick Wotton managed just 18 rushing yards.

Andrew Beckman was the leading ground-gainer at the break for the Indians with 69 yards.

But the Indians led 15-14 at the intermission thanks to some big plays. Pontiac’s scores were bookends to the half. Wotton took the opening kickoff back 91 yards for a touchdown. He added the two-point conversion run for an 8-0 lead 19 seconds into the contest.

Page 2 of 3 - Trailing 14-8, the Tribe embarked on an 81-yard scoring drive to close out the half. Kyle DeLong hit Kevin Lewis in the end zone for a 6-yard touchdown with 2.9 seconds remaining. Michael Hones added the conversion kick.

The big play on the drive was Beckman’s 29-yard burst off the right side.

Pontiac’s defense bent a little on the opening drive of the second half, but the Indians forced the Kays to punt.

Wotton took the ball on one hop and raced 80 yards to paydirt. It was still early in the third quarter, but Wotton’s runback seemed to break the Kays’ spirits.

“We’ve adjusted some things (on special teams) flat out. Nick Wotton did an excellent job of being an athlete,” Casson said. “The opening kickoff and the punt return were huge momentum swings.”

Pontiac took off from Wotton’s second return TD. The Indians’ defense got a three-and-out, and then the offense put together a 47-yard scoring drive.

The big play on the drive was a 31-yard DeLong-to-Lewis connection. Lewis was tackled at the two, where Wotton finished the drive with the third of his five touchdowns on the night.

The PTHS defense registered another three-and-out and then got the ball back on Kankakee’s 43. It took three plays, the last being a 37-yard run by Wotton, to score and go ahead 35-14.

The rout was on.

Wotton’s final touchdown was a 65-yard run that was of highlight reel quality. He took the handoff and went left. He made a cut and headed up field. Charging forward, Wotton slipped through the Kankakee defense, even hurdling one defender, before outrunning everybody to the end zone.

A far cry from his previous work each of the past two weeks, Wotton still finished with 138 rushing yards. He also had 171 yards in returns and caught a pass for 6 more for 315 all-purpose yards.

What made this a big win for the Indians was the meaning behind the victory. With six wins, the Tribe is automatically in the playoffs.

The senior class had not had a winning season of their own until this year. Just having five wins was nice, but it seemed getting that playoff berth was the key.

“This is what we’ve been working for, all four years, and we finally got it done,” Lewis said. “We’ve been waiting for this. Juniors stepped up and played like seniors. They did it for us.”

Page 3 of 3 - The Indians did with defense and a solid offensive punch. PTHS opened up its attack by using Beckman and Vaughn Hobart more than in the past. Beckman had 81 rushing yards and another 37 on one reception for the night. Hobart added 37 yards on the ground.

DeLong was 4 of 7 for 80 yards and a TD. Lewis caught two passes for 37 yards and a touchdown.